Nouri Abusahmain ( ar, نوري أبو سهمين; born October 25, 1956) is a

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

n politician. He is a major figure on the Islamist side of the

2014 Libyan Conflict {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Second Libyan Civil War , partof = the Arab Winter, Libyan Crisis, Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict, War on terror, and Qatar–Saudi Arabia diplomatic conflict , image ...

and founder of the LROR group which is considered "terrorist" by the internationally recognized Libyan parliament. He is reported to have rigged proceedings of the

General National Congress The General National Congress or General National Council (GNC; ar, المؤتمر الوطني العام, Berber: Agraw Amuran Amatay) was the legislative authority of Libya for two years following the end of the First Libyan Civil War. It w ...

while serving as its president.

Biography

He was originally elected to the GNC as member for Zuwarah. He had some support from the

Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ( ar, جماعة الإخوان المسلمين'' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( '), is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic studies, Islamic scholar and scho ...

, but stood as an independent candidate. He has denied strong links with the Muslim Brotherhood. In 2013, he was the Islamist candidate for president of the Libyan

, but was considered a compromise candidate acceptable to more liberal members of the congress. As a result, he became GNC president on 25 June 2013. He had the support of the

's party, the Justice and Construction Party, in his election. On becoming GNC president, Abusahmain was the first Libyan Berber to attain a national leadership role since the

Tripolitanian Republic Tripolitanian Republic (Arabic: , ''al-Jumhuriyat at-Trabulsiya''), was an Arab republic that declared the independence of Tripolitania from Italian Libya after World War I. Background Tripolitania had been an Ottoman possession since the 16th ce ...

of 1918–22. Abusahmain immediately set up an Islamist armed group, the LROR, which attempted an Islamist coup in October 2013. He suppressed debates and inquiries which the Islamist part of the GNC did not want, including a debate over his alleged illegal diversion of money towards the LROR. During Abusahmain's presidency of the GNC and subsequent to GNC's decision to enforce sharia law in December 2013, gender segregation and compulsory hijab were being imposed in Libyan universities from early 2014, provoking strong criticism from Women's Rights groups. He played a part in the constitutional crisis which emerged when Islamist

Ahmed Maiteeq Ahmed Omar Maiteeg ( ar, أحمد عمر معيتيق) is a Libyan businessman and politician originally from Misrata, who was elected Prime Minister of Libya in May 2014. He was appointed head of the transitional government, and asked to form h ...

was supposedly elected prime minister in a GNC session in April 2014 which was intimidated by armed Islamist militants bursting into parliament. Although the Deputy Speaker, Justice Ministry, Supreme Court and opposition parties rejected the proceedings as illegal, Abusahmain signed a decree confirming Maiteeq According to supporters of the eastern government, his term ended when the new

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

was established on 4 August 2014. He was succeeded by Abu Bakr Baira, the interim head of new parliament. He was also GNC representative for his

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–19 ...

hometown of Zuwarah, in the west of the country.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Abusahmain, Nouri 1956 births Berber people Heads of state of Libya Libyan Islamists Living people Members of the General National Congress of Libya People from Nuqat al Khams District